Log"ic (?), n. [OE. logike, F.
logique, L. logica, logice, Gr.
logikh` (sc. te`chnh), fr. logiko`s
belonging to speaking or reason, fr. lo`gos speech,
reason, le`gein to say, speak. See Legend.]
1. The science or art of exact reasoning, or of
pure and formal thought, or of the laws according to which the
processes of pure thinking should be conducted; the science of the
formation and application of general notions; the science of
generalization, judgment, classification, reasoning, and systematic
arrangement; correct reasoning.
Logic is the science of the laws of thought, as
thought; that is, of the necessary conditions to which thought,
considered in itself, is subject.
Sir W.
Hamilton.
☞ Logic is distinguished as pure and
applied. "Pure logic is a science of the form, or of
the formal laws, of thinking, and not of the matter. Applied
logic teaches the application of the forms of thinking to those
objects about which men do think." Abp. Thomson.
2. A treatise on logic; as, Mill's
Logic.